In the ten years Brittany Force has been racing Top Fuel, she has proved two things without a doubt – she can win world championships as she did in 2017 and 2022, and she can qualify No. 1 at national events.
 
After Friday’s lone qualifying session at the Lucas Oil Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., she is on the verge of her 44th No. 1 qualifying position, thanks to clocking a 3.712-second time at 328.86 mph.
 
“Honestly, it didn’t feel like a great run,” said Force, who pilots the Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster for John Force Racing. “When I got out on the top end, they told me it was a 71, and we were currently low. That was exciting, but it surprised me a little. It kind of rattled. Half-track to the 1,000-foot, it vibrated the whole way down and I just thought any second this thing is going to pop behind me. It is going to get in trouble. It just felt like it was coming undone. Then right before 1,000-foot, we shut it off. I thought it was (crew chief David) Grubnic who shut it off.
 
“So, we are looking into it, trying to figure out what the issue was, but the car did shut off. We did have a little more in it. We could have got a little bit further and improved the run by a little bit, but still that 3.71 that put us low right now. That’s a good solid run coming into qualifying.
 
Force was already No. 1 qualifier at the season-opening Gatornationals and she was No. 1 qualifier ten times last season.

“My thoughts on it are he spent all offseason making some big, big changes,” Force said of Grubnic. “The whole team is aware of it and my first thought was we had such a great package; why are we going to change it? It didn’t make any sense. But again, I have David Grubnic in our corner. He’s the best crew chief. He’s the best tuner. I don’t doubt him. Whatever he thinks we need to do to move forward and progress and get better, I stand right by him. I think it is going to be shaky in the first few races and we knew it would be, but I think in the long run, it is going to be good for us.”

Force has qualified No. 1 at the Winternationals three years running 2020-22, and her lone win in Pomona came in her 2017 championship season in the final race of the year.

Force lost in the second round of both the Gators and Arizona Nationals. This weekend, she is chasing her 17th career Top Fuel national event victory.

“We want to win early on,” Force said. “We would love to start that right here in Pomona, my home track. We have had success here before. We have won here before. We locked up a championship last season here, but we are ready for that first win of the season. I hope it comes sooner than later, but again, we are aware that it might take a couple of races, but we should have our footing figured out in the next couple.”

Force also did offer her thoughts about NHRA not starting the season at the Winternationals – a staple of the sport for decades.

“It does change it up a little bit because we open here in Pomona and we close here,” she said. “Since I was a kid, I have been coming to both the opening event and closing event in Pomona. So, it was definitely different being out at the Gatornationals for the opening race. My team did do many days of testing. I felt like we were already working our way through the season when we started, so it didn’t feel like the first opening race for us.

“But again, change is good. I don’t love change. I like sticking to the same routine, but in the long run it will be good to mix things up and change it around and see if it works for NHRA drag racing.”

Force also addressed the new name of the track – In-N-Out Raceway at Pomona.

“I like it,” Force said. “I love In-N-Out. I have one down the street from me. I love In-N-Out. I love that new sponsors are coming into the sport. They see the potential. They see value in NHRA drag racing and they are putting the money in and investing, and we are glad to have them here.”